


Welcome to Hell!

by oofmanidk



Category: Heroes of Olympus - Fandom, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Trials of Apollo - Fandom
Genre: College AU, Demon AU, M/M, a lot of catholic overtones, dumb boys, idk what i’m doing at all ever, infrequent updating sorry my brain is broke, no beta we die like nonbinaries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 13:43:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19252372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oofmanidk/pseuds/oofmanidk
Summary: In a fit of gay pining, Kayla convinces Austin and Will to summon a demon. It doesn’t go very well for the humans.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> please be nice to me the only other fic i’ve ever written was a dumb sappy hetalia (yeah i know :/) fic when i was 14

“We’re going to summon a demon!”

Austin looked at Kayla as if a mushroom had suddenly sprouted from her head. “We are what? No. Uh-uh. I will not be that one black guy in the horror movies who goes along with all his white friends’ dumbass ideas to get murdered.” 

Will looked up from his phone- it was halloween and the internet always had the dankest skeleton memes at this time of the year. “He makes a valid point, Kay. But in my opinion, nobody is going to die. Do you know why?” He didn’t wait for anyone to answer. “Because nothing is going to happen, that’s why. What is going to happen, is we’re going to light a bunch of candles, Kayla is going to say some spooky shit to scare us, and then we all go to bed.” 

“Booooooo!” Kayla called through cupped hands as if she was berating a performer from the audience. “Come on guys! Who cares if nothing happens? It’ll still be fun, right? Besides, if I tell Lou Ellen- you know the goth pagan girl- that we summoned a demon, then she’d be impressed! And then we would talk, and go on a date, and kiss and get married!” 

Austin and Will gave Kayla identical incredulous looks. Ever the hopeless romantic, Austin sighed in defeat, “Well, if it’s for love...” He trailed off with a shrug. 

And before they knew it, they were sitting in the middle of a circle of candles. 

“Where did you even get this many black candles, Kay?” Will asked, looking around nervously at all the potential fire hazards. Man would their landlord be pissed if she heard they burnt the place down trying to summon a demon. 

Kayla shrugged dismissively. “Internet.” 

“Is that also where you learned to summon a demon?” Austin quipped. 

“As a matter of fact, it is,” says Kayla, “Now shut up and let me say the incantation.” 

Whatever Latin phrase Kayla said was certainly as spooky as Will had claimed it would be, if not more. When she said the final summoning word, everyone looked at each other rather anxiously. 

Fifteen seconds passed.   
Thirty.   
A minute. 

“See?” Said Will, “Told you nothing would-“ He was cut off by Kayla’s bedroom door slamming. 

“SHIT!” Austin shouted, “What the hell was that?” 

“That would have been me.” The three had been so fixated on the door, that they didn’t even notice a fourth member join the party seemingly out of nowhere. “I would have assumed you would all have expected it, considering you all summoned me.” The demon’s voice was dark and silky- what one might expect from a prince of hell, but his looks, well.. Not so much. He appeared to be in his early to mid twenties with dark hair falling gracefully to his human looking shoulders, which were clad in a black button down shirt, detailed in gold on the collar. He could have been anyone from their campus, if it weren’t for his blood red eyes. 

All three of the friends stared at the newcomer in shock. How had this incantation from the internet actually worked? 

The demon rolled his eyes. “Right. First-time summoners,” he said with a heavy sigh. “Let me start from the beginning. Greetings, humans. I thank you for summoning me. What is it I can offer you?” He looked at Austin with a sly smile. “Fame?” He looked to Kayla next. “To have an unrequited love fall head over heels?” When the demon looked at Will, he felt tingles go down his spine. “To know the secrets of the natural and unnatural world?” 

Kayla spoke first. “We, um.. didn’t think this far ahead, uh... sir.” 

The demon looked at the three roommates in disgust. “Obviously not... it seems you have not prepared an offering for me either.” 

Austin gulped audibly. “Offering? What do you mean..?” 

“Oh you know, basic stuff,” the demon responded casually, “Wine, money,” he bent forward and cupped Austin’s face in his hand, “Something pretty for me to play with.” The demon was smiling cruelly now and Will could see that his teeth were all sharp as knives. Will felt something hot and frightening flare in his chest and the demon looked at him, smile unfading. “Jealousy is an ugly emotion, William.”

Now it was Will’s turn to gulp audibly, and for some reason, he felt silly for doing it. As if he had someone to impress right now. “How.. how do you know my name? And I’m not jealous, you sick fuck!”

The demon rolled his eyes. “I am an immortal, omniscient being from beyond your realm. Does it really come of that much of a surprise to you that I know your name or your emotions?” Chastised, Will shook his head silently. The demon smiled smugly. “That’s what I thought.” He stood, finally releasing Austin from his grip. “Well, If you have nothing to offer me, and are too cowardly to ask for anything, then I will take my leave.” 

“Um, Right.. Sorry for inconveniencing you, sir... it, um.. it won’t happen again, said Kayla. 

“Quite right it won’t,” replied the demon, “and to make sure of that, and because you so rudely denied me of my offering, I will take something home with me.” 

“What.. are you going to take?” Squeaked Austin. 

The demon put all his pointed teeth on display in a cruel grin. “Him,” he said, pointing at Will. 

The three sprung to their feet. “What?! No, you are not taking me to hell or wherever the fuck you come from!” 

The demon tutted like a disappointed school marm. “Stupid humans, you already agreed to give one of your own up if you had nothing else to offer. It states so plainly in the incantation.”

Austin stared dumbly at the demon. “We don’t speak Latin! No one does!”

“Well I do. It’s not my fault you summoned me unprepared.” The demon grabbed Will’s wrist with a vice-like grip. Will’s skin felt vaguely like it was burning, but not exactly in a bad way. “Come along, pet. We’re leaving now.” 

“No! Let! Go! Of! Me!” Shouted Will, trying desperately to break free, though inside he knew it was useless. He was literally being dragged to hell. In a flash of black light, the room disappeared, and Will could no longer hear his best friends’ shouts of protests. 

His new environment was nothing like the dark cavern he had expected. There were stone floors, yes, but they were nice stone floors: Smooth granite slabs with sparkling quartz glinting in the pinkish orange light from the fixtures on the wall. The fixtures were made out of some sort of pink rock that reminded Will an awful lot of the pink salt lamp that Kayla had in her room. Will felt an intense pang of sadness. He would never see his friends again. A tear rolled down his cheek, and before he could even register that it was there, a finger wiped it away. 

“No need to cry, pet, you will have a good life here,” cooed the demon. 

Will stared daggers at his captor. “Like hell I will,” Will spat, “How the fuck can I have a good life when I’m enslaved by a demon?” 

“Now, now, pet,” the demon’s voice was surprisingly gentle, “I said nothing of slavery. You are simply here to entertain me and to keep me company. That’s not so bad, is it?”

“It is if it’s against my will!”

“It’s not my fault you didn’t read the contract properly,” the demon chastised. 

Will hated that he couldn’t argue. 

“Now dry your eyes, William, we are going to meet my father,” said the demon, who’s voice was still maddeningly gentle. 

Will blanched. “Your... your father? Who, uh, exactly is your father?” 

The demon smiled mischievously. “Oh, he goes by many names. Lucifer, Satan, Hades... but I just call him father. You may call him Your Majesty.” 

Will nodded dumbly, struggling to process the fact that we was going to meet literal Satan. They continued to walk down the dimly lit hallway. The demon’s polished shoes clicked against the stone floors. Will wished he was wearing more than socks on his feet; his toes were frozen from walking on the cold granite tile. 

“Don’t worry, pet, you may have new clothes once we reach my quarters.”

“You know,” said Will in an annoyed tone, “It’s really creepy that you just. Know how I’m feeling. Could you stop? Also I’m not your pet. I am an autonomous human being.”

The demon chuckled. “Of course you are. But the cats and dogs of your realm are also autonomous, are they not? They choose to chase the ball, choose to bat the glass of water off the table. What makes their autonomy any different than yours?” The demon continued when Will didn’t answer. “Also, I cannot control what I perceive, just as you cannot control what you smell. I can’t turn it off. Sorry, pet.” 

Will grumbled and rolled his eyes. He was about to respond with some biting comment he hadn’t fully thought of yet when the demon placed his hand on Will’s chest in a silent order to stop walking. They had stopped in front of two large doors of white poplar, magnificently carved with details of pomegranates and angels of death. The doors looked heavy to Will, but the demon pushed them open as easily as one would push open the glass doors of a Taco Bell. 

The hall inside was so huge, he couldn’t quite see to the other side. The floor tiles in here were no longer granite, but some black stone that Will thought might be obsidian or jet. Who was he to say? He wasn’t some sort of infernal geologist. In the middle of the room stood an enormous iron throne, detailed with screaming, agonized faces. Will swore he could see one of them blink. 

The demon bowed deeply and tugged on Will’s wrist, indicating that he too should bow. Will didn’t want to be tortured for all of eternity, so he copied his captor’s bow. 

“Hello, father,” said the demon, now standing all the way up. 

The elder demon sitting in the throne regarded them both cooly. Will didn’t know why, but he had expected Satan to look something like Ganondorf from the Legend of Zelda, but really he just looked like an older version of the demon standing next to him. He had the same shape face, his just had a few wrinkles. His dark hair was shorter and was peppered with flecks of gray. It had never occurred to Will that demon’s age, but here was living proof. 

“Hello Nico,” Said the King of Hell, “I see you have gotten yourself a new toy.” 

Will’s jaw dropped. “Wait. Your name is Nico? I thought it would’ve been something like... Bultharion or something weird like that!”

“SILENCE,” boomed the King, “You do not have permission to speak, human.” The King turned to his son. “I expect you to teach your new pet some manners, son.” 

Nico nodded. “Yes, father. As you wish.”

The King of Hell sighed in annoyance. “I take it that you took him because he and his other human friends thought not to prepare an offering before they summoned you.”

Nico nodded sharply. “Correct. Nor did they want anything from me other than to see if I actually existed.” Nico’s voice matched the same amount of annoyance that was on his father’s face. 

“Typical. Humans these days have no concept of etiquette. You are dismissed.” 

Nico led Will out of the great hall. After a few minutes of silent walking, Will spoke. “He seems nice.” 

Nico stifled a laugh and Will felt something light and pink and vaguely butterfly shaped flutter in his stomach. Probably just a moth. “Yeah.. he’s a bit of a stick in the mud... but not so bad once you get to know him.” 

Will nodded. “Right. Having Satan for a dad isn’t that bad...” 

Nico didn’t answer. He just led Will around a corner and further down the hall until they reached another set of ornately carved poplar doors, though these ones were a tad smaller than those leading to the great hall. A lump formed in Will’s throat, and no matter how much he swallowed, it would not dislodge itself. 

“No need to be worried, pet, it’s just my bedroom,” Nico said in an attempt to reassure his captive. 

“That’s what I’m worried about.” 

Nico raised a singular eyebrow and opened his doors to a large, yet comfortable looking suite, the centerpiece of which was a large canopy bed, draped in wine colored velvets. “Welcome to your new home, William.” 

Will walked into the bedroom, taking it all in. There was a splendid rug covering the granite floor, a welcome gift to Will’s cold and sore feet. The walls were lined with shelves filled with ancient looking leather-bound tomes. “Wow..” 

“Make yourself comfortable,” said Nico. And Will didn’t need to be told twice, he immediately flopped onto the bed, overcome with exhaustion. “Yes, I suppose it is getting late,” the demon mused. “I will join you in a moment.”

Will shot up. “Join me? No! I am not sharing a bed with a demon!” 

Nico rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so childish. There is plenty of room. It’s not as if we need to snuggle.” 

Will blushed at the thought. “Fine. I’ll share the bed. But if you touch me, I’ll-“

“You’ll what? Punch me in the nose?,” said Nico with a dark chuckle, “You couldn’t hurt me if you tried, pet.” 

Will blanched and Nico laughed. “Oh you should see the look on your face! What, do you think I’m going to kill you or something? Believe me, If I wanted you dead, I would have done it already.” He looked with amusement at the shaking man in front of him. “Did you know that I can snatch the life out of someone’s body? I wouldn’t even need to touch you.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you!?” Shouted Will. 

Nico scoffed. “Calm down, I won’t do it to you. Only to people who deserve it or get in my way.” 

Will shook his head. “You’re terrible.”

“How astute,” he said flatly, “now help me undress.” 

“What? No way I’m undressing you!” Shrieked Will. 

Nico snarled. “You will do as you are told.” He held his arms out in a T pose. “Now undress me.” 

“‘Not a slave’ my ass,” Will groaned and dragged himself over to Nico and began unbuttoning his captor’s shirt. He was unable to fight back the blush crawling up his face and down his neck. “God, I hate this.” 

“God can’t help you here.” Was Nico’s ominous reply. 

Will rolled his eyes and pulled off Nico’s shirt. He didn’t want to stare at the toned body underneath, but it seemed impossible to tear his eyes away. Nico smirked. “Like what you see?”

Will sputtered. “What? No! What?” 

Nico laughed and removed his pants himself. He pointed to a chair with another black shirt laying in it. “Fetch me my bedclothes.”

Will did as he was told. He brought back the loose, soft shirt and helped Nico into it. Nico took off his own pants and didn’t bother replacing them. He crawled under his plush covers and patted the empty space next to him teasingly. “Come on now, pet. Time to sleep.”

Will grumbled as he got into bed next to the demon. He scooted as far away from his captor as he could without falling out of the bed. As angry as he was about all of this, he was even more exhausted and fell asleep before Nico extinguished the lights with a snap of his fingers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> day two in casa de hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh jeez i really didn’t expect all the positive response this fic has gotten!! i’m honestly so flattered ;-; i hope you like this next chapter. content warning for the description of severely malnourished human bodies. description starts at “...since Nico had sent the origami bird flying out the door.” and ends at “before they made it out, will sprang from the chair...”

Will woke to see sanguine eyes staring at him. He shouted in surprise and pushed Nico away. “Were you watching me while I slept, you fucking creep?” 

“You looked so pretty,” was Nico’s only excuse 

“Ugh, gross! Did you even sleep or did you just stare at me like a pervert all night?” 

Nico looked affronted. “Of course I slept! I just happened to wake up before you and thought I would take the time to appreciate a moment when you weren’t being rude or annoying.” 

Will pushed Nico again. “You know what’s rude? Watching people while they sleep!” He hopped out of bed and stood there with crossed arms. “Where’s your bathroom?” 

Nico stared dumbly. “My what?”

Will rolled his eyes. “Your bathroom. You have one of those right? I would like to use it. Or should I use a giant litter box since I’m your ‘pet?’” Will put the word pet into air quotes, just to show how bullshit he thought the whole concept was. 

Nico pointed to a door nestled comfortably in between two book cases. “In there. Try not to make a mess.” Will flipped him off and stormed off to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Seconds later, Nico heard the sound of his bathtub running, and if he wasn’t mistaken, some angry, indistinct grumbling. Nico sighed and strode over to his wardrobe, wondering just what in here would fit his guest, and whether he would even like it. After a few minutes of rummaging, Nico pulled out a few outfits and knocked on the bathroom door. “May I enter?”

“Yeah, whatever,” replied Will’s voice. He sounded strained and tired even though he had just had a full night’s rest. Cautiously, Nico opened the door. Will was sitting in the bathtub and Nico was surprised to see that he had tears running down his cheeks. 

Nico decided to ignore the tears for now; he had a feeling that acknowledging them would just make Will hate him even more. “I thought you would like some clean clothes. Feel free to choose from what I’ve picked for you.” 

Will stared daggers at Nico. “Oh? I thought pets weren’t supposed to wear clothes. Lucky me.” There was a long moment of silence before Will muttered. “...Thanks, though. Now please leave.” 

Nico nodded and left the clothes on the counter and left to get dressed himself. 

Will emerged from the bathroom nearly thirty minutes later dressed in a loose fitting white shirt and black pants. “I look like a pirate!” he complained. 

“A cute pirate.” 

Despite his blush, Will glared at Nico, who only chuckled. 

“It’s only a nickname, by the way,” said Nico. 

“What?” 

“Pet. It’s just a nickname, a term of endearment if you will,” Nico explained. 

Will paused for a moment. “Well it’s a dumb nickname.” 

“Would you like me to stop calling you pet, then?” 

Will didn’t answer. What he said instead was, “Can we eat? I’m starving.” 

“Of course,” Nico said with a sly smile before finishing with, “Pet.” He was satisfied with his teasing when Will groaned and rolled his eyes. “But yes, what would you like to eat?”

Will shrugged. “Uh.. I dunno. Is demon food different than human food?” Will’s eyes widened. “Oh my god is it poisonous?”

Nico raised a singular eyebrow. “Demons usually eat meat and stuff. The bloodier the better. Though you can order anything you want. Nothing’s off the table. Literally.” 

“So I could get, like, lobster and steak?” 

Nico nodded. 

“Whoa... that sounds more like heaven than hell.”

Nico scoffed. “Ugh, I would literally rather die than live under the domain of that tyrannical despot.” He crossed his arms and huffed in annoyance. “Will you fetch me a pen and piece of paper, pet? Oh. Also open the door.” 

“What’s the magic word?”

“Ugh. Please.” 

Will walked over to the most logical place for a piece of paper and a pen would be: the wood desk at the far end of the room. The top of the desk itself was bare and, like all the other wood furniture was made of poplar. With nothing to be found on the surface of the desk, Will swallowed his anxiety and opened the top drawer of the desk. Nico made no noise of objection when he did this, so Will carefully rummaged for a blank piece of paper- or parchment, based on the other notebooks and papers already marked with strange sigils and a language that Will didn’t understand, yet filled him with a blend of excitement and dread, like the way he had felt years ago right before riding a roller coaster for the first time.

“Second drawer. Nothing is blank in the one you’re in right now.” Nico’s low, smooth voice made Will jump, which in turn made Nico chuckle. Will ignored the hot feeling rising in his cheeks and grabbed a piece of paper and a fancy looking black pen from the second drawer. He bumped the drawer closed with his hip and returned to Nico with the requested items. 

Nico hastily scrawled something in that same unfamiliar language that Will had seen in the top drawer onto the page. He folded the paper into a little paper crane and whispered something in a language that sounded like an odd mix of Arabic and Latin, throaty and precise.   
The bird came to life and flew out of the door. 

“Wow,” Will breathed, eyes still transfixed on the doorway even though the paper bird was long gone. “What language was that? Was it the same one that you wrote in?”

Nico regarded Will with fondness and something else that almost looked like curiosity. “Yes, that was Enochian, the language of demons. Something not many people up on earth speak.”

“Implying that there are people on earth actually speak it. Visiting demons not included?” Will inquired. 

“Yes,” Nico responded with a slight nod, “But like I said: not many. Out of the approximately 100 billion people to ever walk the earth, I would say about seven people have spoken it fluently. Of course, there are thousands more who have read it aloud from a text, but they were in no way fluent.” 

Will nodded silently. Part of him wanted to ask Nico to teach him the language, but another part of him wanted to find away to escape this place and go back to Earth. Right now, the latter seemed far more appealing than learning some spooky sounding language that he would never have a use for. But he was still curious, and while he was down here, he might as well fish for as many answers as he could get. “So if that’s the language of demons, all the -uh- the natives.” Will paused, was that even the right word to use? Whatever. “That’s what all y’all speak down here.” Nico nodded patiently as if a six year old were trying to explain to him the complexity of Winnie the Pooh. “So why didn’t you and your... Satan... dad speak it yesterday? Why go to the trouble of speaking English?” 

“Because it would have been rude to talk about you in a language you don’t understand while you were in the room with us,” Nico said as if the politeness of the Literal King of Fucking Hell was the most obvious answer to the question. 

“Seriously?”

“Well, I mean. That and he likes how uncomfortable people look when he calls them ‘human,’” he added nonchalantly. 

“Oh. Well as long as his primary reason is to be polite,” Will sighed. He added an eye roll for added effect. He flopped down into Nico’s finely carved wooden desk chair and slung one leg over the arm. Will wanted to see how much he could get away with down here. He met Nico’s annoyed glare and sprung another question on him. “How many other humans have you... uh.. had?”

Nico’s mouth quirked into something that looked like it was supposed to be a smile. “You’ll have to be a bit more specific than that, if you want an accurate answer.” 

A disgusted expression took over Will’s face. “Oh my god I don’t even want to know what you mean by that. Either way, it’s gross and so are you.” He huffed out a frustrated sigh. “I mean how many humans have you literally dragged to hell with you like you did with me?”

Nico snorted in laughter and Will had the utter dissatisfaction of finding that somewhat endearing. “You mean who else was too stupid to realize that actually not having an offering would have any consequences? Only two.” 

Well, this was certainly a surprise. “Wait, really?” 

Nico nodded serenely. “Yes, you are the first I’ve had the pleasure to take with me in... oh... seven hundred years?” 

“Damn. So like. Doesn’t that make you kind of prudish by demon standards?” Will asked, tilting the chair back so that it was balancing on two legs. 

“That,” Nico said with narrowed eyes, “Isn’t really your concern, is it?”

Will frowned and planted the chair back on all four of its legs again. “Uh...” He didn’t have time to think of some half-assed apology because it had been 11.1 minutes, or 666 seconds, since Nico had sent the origami bird flying out his door. 

Two emaciated figures pushed a cart, much like one would see at a high end hotel, through the bedchamber door. The figures, as they are too inhuman looking to be labeled merely as people, groaned with nearly every step. Their dull gray skin cracked and bled with every move they made. One of the figures handed a covered tray to Nico, arms shaking from their lack of muscle. Nico took the tray and waved the skeletal servants out. Before they made it out, Will spring from the ornate chair, knocking it to the floor, and grabbed one of the servants by the wrist. “Wait! What’s wrong? Do you need help?” These figures obviously needed an IV drip right away to get them hydrated, then he could tube-feed them. But this was hell. Did they even have those things? Will almost didn’t notice the disgusting creature rear its head back and opened its jaws wide to bite Will. Even if Nico hadn’t literally kicked it and its little friend out of the room, the bite wouldn’t have done much harm, as these things didn’t have any teeth. Nico slammed the door behind the malnourished waitstaff and turned towards Will, obvious anger in his eyes.

“What the fuck was that?” He shouted. 

Will crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. “What do you mean? It looked like their organs were about to shut down at any second! They needed medical attention!” 

Nico thunked the tray down onto a wooden table so he could pass a hand over his eyes. “You idiot, they’re being tortured. They’re supposed to look like that! Their organs can’t fail because they’re already dead!” He paused, expecting Will to make some sort of indignant rebuttal. He continued when none came. “Those are gluttons. They’re the folks at Monsanto and Nestle and all those other terrible companies that let millions of people, even their own employees, starve to death while they stuff their faces and bank accounts. This is what they deserve.” Nico whipped the cover off of the tray, revealing immaculately rare stake and buttered lobster. Half an hour ago, Will would have leaped at the chance to even get one bite of such luxurious food, but now it seemed that his appetite had abandoned him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y’all i am sososososo sorry about the little hiatus that i accidentally took ;-; a lot of things have been going on. for instance i quit one of my jobs, have been focused on some other fandom updates (homestuck. homestuck upd8ed and i’m dying) and also got engaged! so yeah. i hope this chapter can make up for my long absence and i promise to try to update more regularly from now on ;3; a warning for graphic violence and vomiting in this chapter: description begins at “Nico walked in and closed the door behind Will” and ends at “ Nico sighed. He should have expected this.” It’s bear the very ending of the chapter

Will stared at his food with conflicting emotions. On one hand, he hadn’t eaten in over a day and was practically ravenous. On the other hand, what he had just seen left him feeling a little bit queasy 

Nico frowned and put his hands on Will’s shoulders. Will resisted the urge to flinch away. Nico spoke with a voice that was calm and sincere. “Listen. I know this place is scary. There’s a lot of bad shit that happens to equally bad people. You’re not used to seeing such horrors. But I promise you’re safe with me.” 

At this, Will found the courage to wrench himself out of the demon’s grasp. “Safe? With you?” He spat. “You are a demon- a torturer and a murderer, a being made of nothing but hatred and evil- you took me here against my will and- and yet you have the audacity to promise me safety?” Will’s voice was dripping with more corrosive acid than the solution poured onto the genitals of rapists. 

Nico removed his hands from Will’s shoulders and took a calculated step backwards. His gaze, now turned icy, however did not leave Will’s eyes. 

Will’s heart palpitated during the agonizing eternity of silence that passed between them. 

Though in reality, it was only six seconds before Nico spoke. “Eat.” Another two seconds passed. “You’re hungry, and it would be terribly inconvenient if you passed out.”

Will only turned his back on Nico with a huff of breath and a cross of his arms. He heard the clanking of plates and silverware among some muttering about ‘a petulant child.’ He had absolutely no idea what that could have been about. 

A little too quickly, Nico walked with a plate of his own portion of food past Will and set it down on his desk. Nico righted the chair that Will had knocked over before plopping down in it. Will watched as Nico mostly wrote, only stopping to take a small bite of food every few minutes. Will looked back at the food on the table. The food stared back, practically begging to be eaten. With a heavy sigh, no doubt earning an unseen eye roll from the brooding demon, Will sat down in the nearest, and rather uncomfortable if he was being honest, chair and devoured his meal with an embarrassing amount of ferocity. Will found his mood lifting as his belly became fuller, as was often the case with him. 

When he had finished eating, he got on the bed, laying on his stomach and kicking his legs in the air. He propped up his head in his hands. “So like... Who’s down here?” 

Nico didn’t look up from whatever it was he was working on. “Pardon?” 

“You know. Like. Who really goes to hell? You said gluttons, and that makes sense. But who else gets sent down here?” 

Nico sighed and slowly turned to look at Will. “Why do you want to know?” 

Will made the universal ‘I don’t know’ sound followed by “Morbid curiosity, I guess. Besides, humans have always been obsessed with what happens after death. Now I get to know at least some of that without dying myself, so like. I’m obviously gonna ask questions.” 

Nico set down his pen and thought for a moment. “Well. A lot of people get sent here, whether the reasoning is rational or not.” He watched Will tilt his head to the side in inquiry before continuing. “Well, you have your obvious murderers and rapists, the greedy and the warmongers, adulterers and domestic abusers, et cetera.”

Will nodded. “Yeah okay, what about the ones that aren’t rational?” A frown molded itself into Will’s face. “You’re talking about queer people, aren’t you?” The look on Nico’s face was answer enough. “Seriously? Y’all actually torture queer people down here?” 

Nico held up a finger. “Ah, but you see, our job down here is to give these “sinners” what they deserve, not specifically to torture. So we give them what they need: community and support. Same with the suicide victims.”

Will blinked. “So... they’re all just... down here chilling?”

“Yes. Well, the ones who didn’t do any actual sins. Like those boys who shot up that high school and then killed themselves are getting tortured. Not because of the act of suicide, but because they were neo-nazis and murderers.” 

“Yeah, makes sense. So does God know about this? Is he like, okay with it?” 

At this, Nico scoffed. “Please. God has no interest in the damned. He’s too good for that, that’s why he leaves the dirty work to us fallen angels.” 

It hadn’t occurred to Will before now that Nico had most likely been an angel before he was a demon. “So... did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” The words left Will’s mouth before he could stop them. 

Nico glared daggers at Will. For a moment, Will was actually afraid that literal daggers were going to manifest and stab him for being a dumbass. Instead, Nico simply bit out, “As a matter of fact, it did. A lot.” 

Will stared at his feet, actually feeling guilty for upsetting a literal demon. “Sorry... bad joke...” Nico’s only responded with a weary sigh before turning back to his desk. Will, however, was not put off by long. What was it his mom always called him? A resilient young man with a sunny disposition? Yeah, that sounded about right. Will trotted over to the desk and peered over Nico’s shoulder at whatever was being written in that spooky infernal language. Nico clenched his jaw and tried his absolute best to ignore Will, and Will seemed to be content being ignored. At least for about thirty seconds before he finally piped up. “Wat’cha doin’?” He asked cheerfully. 

Nico did not groan or grumble, but rather growled like an actual beast would do. This should have scared Will at least a little, but he actually found it to be pretty cool. 

“I’m planning,” said the demon through gritted teeth. 

“Planning what?”

“Does it fucking matter?” 

Will pouted. “I guess not.”

“Then why,” said Nico, “Are you asking?” 

Will threw his hands into the air. “‘Cause I’m bored!” he exclaimed, “You dragged me down to Literal Fucking Hell and for what? Like jeez, at least give me a tour or something!”

Nico set down his pen and rubbed at his temples as if to stave off a migraine. Will noticed that not only were Nico’s fingernails tapered to a fine point at the end, but they were also black. Not painted, but just naturally black. Weird. “You want a tour?” He asked, incredulous. 

Will thought for a moment. Did he actually want a tour of a frightening pit in which people’s agonized souls were tortured for all of eternity? “Yep. I want a tour.” 

“And if I give you a tour, will you let me finish my work in peace?”

Will nodded. “Tour first though!” 

Nico stood from his desk. “Alright. Let’s go then. Stay by my side at all times and do not talk to anyone, understood?” 

“Got it!” Will planted himself at Nico’s side and followed him happily into the rest of hell. 

For a while the only sound was that of Will and Nico’s shoes tapping against the jet tile floors. It was awfully dim in these halls, even with the luminous stone sconces. “How do you see around here?”

“What?”

“How do you see? There’s barely any light.”

Nico shrugged. “I dunno. Special demon eyes. Plenty of animals where you’re from can see in the dark, right?”

“Well, yeah, but while the tapetum lucidum means that they can see in the dark, it’s also the reason they can’t read because it doesn’t let them focus on fine print they way humans can,” Will explained to the thousandsomething-year-old being. 

This explanation just made Nico scoff. “If you know that, then you should also know that animals with both a tapetum lucidum and high cognitive function- like dogs- can still recognize patterns in the shapes of written letters and characters. So why can’t I, a being with far more brain power than a labradoodle, do the same thing?” 

“Yeah, I guess.” Will pouted. 

“Anyway. What kind of torture do you want to see? Or is there any person in particular you want to see tortured?”

Will was struck with an idea. “Oooh, can we see Hitler? I fucking hate that guy! I mean, he is down here, right? He has to be!”

Nico chuckled, not in a cruel or mocking way, but in a way that somewhat resembled fondness. “Yes, Hitler is down here, and he will stay down here for another 10,999,926 years. I have to warn you though, his torture is... pretty graphic. You might not actually want to see him.” 

“No! I’m okay, I watch scary movies all the time! I’ll be okay!” Will pleaded. 

“Alright, if you insist,” Nico said calmly, “but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Nico led Will through a series of twists and turns and down a few flights of stairs until they reached something Will definitely did not expect: iron gates with an inscription on top that read in imposing bold letters, AUSCHWITZ.

Will physically recoiled. “What the fuck? Is this some sort of joke?”

“In a way, yes. We thought it would be funny to torture Hitler inside the likeness of his, uh... greatest accomplishment.”

Will stared at the gates for a long time. He had never been to the actual camp-turned-memorial, he just didn’t have that kind of money to travel overseas. But this, standing here in front of this frightening replica, made Will feel like there was a cold wind moving inside him. It made his bones feel strangely hollow. He jumped when he heard Nico speak. 

“We don’t have to go in.”

Will squared his shoulders and set his jaw. “No, I want to see.” 

Nico just nodded and opened the gates. The door swung silently open. There were no screams like will had expected, just whimpering. Nico walked in and closed the door behind Will. 

Inside looked like a complete replica of the infamous concentration camp, at least from what Will had seen in history books. In the center of the camp was a... thing flanked on either side by two demons carrying simple knives. Of course, the miserable creature had to be Hitler, but this guy looked nothing like the ones in the history books. This guy’s flesh was pink and undulating: he was turned completely inside out. Occasionally, a demon would slash a hole in Hitler’s exposed lungs and poured acid inside. When this was done, Hitler would write around gurgling a bit on the gritty floor. His lung would magically heal, and the process would repeat. Will doubled over, vomited, and then passed out. 

Nico sighed. He should have expected this. “One of you clean this up,” he ordered before picking Will up and tossing him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooo second authors note tbh i didn’t realize i could have 2 a/n’s until now? i’m not the brightest crayon in the box. but anyway i wanted y’all’s opinion. it’s obvious that will and nico are gonna fall in love but i’m not sure if i should add smut into that mixture. tbh ive never actually written smut before, but if y’all want to see it, then i’ll write it!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw you’ve just had this chapter in your drafts and completely forgot to post it  
> sorry for the delay, y’all... i don’t mean to update as frequently as a bbc show, it just sorta happens :/  
> i hope everyone is doing well during ... everything that’s goin on. ya boi got coronavirus lol but i’m getting better! i appreciate every single one of y’all and hope you’re staying safe!  
> 

Will woke with a pounding headache. He seemed to be back in Nico’s bed, practically buried in blankets and pillows. He looked up to see Nico once again hunched over his desk, scribbling away at whatever ‘plans’ he was making. Will tried to sit up, but the pain in his head prevented him from moving too much. 

Hearing the slight movement behind him, Nico turned around. “Oh, you’re awake,” he observed. 

Will just groaned a little in response. 

“You fainted when you saw Hitler. Also you threw up,” Nico continued. 

Will groaned again, but this time in embarrassment rather than in pain. “Ugh. Yeah, I remember. I’m guessing I hit my head when I passed out?” 

“Yep. Now you’re concussed,” the demon confirmed. 

“Cool. Great. Love that. Can you fix it?”

Nico scoffed. “Fix it? What am I, an angel? I don’t have healing powers, sweetheart.” 

Will pouted. “That sucks.”

Nico hummed in agreement. “Unfortunately all I can do for you regarding your brain trauma is no more than any human could do. Sorry.” 

Will just shrugged. “It’s okay. You’re doing your best. Not like you’re actively making my concussion worse.... You’re not doing that, are you?” Nico rolled his eyes, which Will took as a no. 

Will huffed and sat up. The blood drained from his face as a wave of nausea overcame him. Instinctively, Will clapped a hand over his mouth. 

“If you’re going to vomit, than I ask that you do it in the bathroom,” Nico said in a bored tone.

Will swallowed thickly and bullied the nausea to subside. It worked only long enough for Will to spit out a “dick” at the demon and wobble his way over to the bathroom to vomit again. Unfortunately for Will’s esophagus and mouth, the only thing that was available to be ejected from his body was bile. And after that, Will just spent about ten minutes dry heaving into the toilet. He rinsed his mouth in the sink and slowly made his way to crawl back into bed. 

Nico looked up from his desk. “Are you done? Like, is it over?” 

Will grumbled indistinctly and wrapped himself up in the plush bedcovers. “You don’t need to be a dick about it?”

“What do I need to be, then?”

“Fuck. I dunno, you could at least be nice to me! Like, if you’re not gonna let me go, you could at least be fucking decent and not mock me every time I do fucking anything!” Nico just watched Will get angry, his slit pupils dilated like a cat’s- though Will was too far away to tell. What Will could tell, however, was that Nico was definitely being weird again “Stop fucking staring at me!” he shouted, throwing his hands into the air. “Christ, you look like a fucking psychopath when you just! Do that! It’s creepy and I hate it! I hate you!” Will through a pillow at Nico, who just let it happen. That made Will angrier “Fucking do something!” 

So, Nico did something. He stood up and walked towards Will, sitting down onto the bed. “There. That’s something.” 

Will didn’t notice the pupils at first, he just kept being angry. “No it fucking isn’t! You just moved spots! What’s wrong with you?!” Will looked at Nick’s face. “And what the fuck is wrong with your eyes? You look stupid.” 

Nico breathed in deeply, as if inhaling Will’s anger and getting high off of it. Which is, of course, exactly what he was doing. A calm smile spread slowly across Nico’s face. “I love this.” 

“What, me yelling at you?” 

Nico nodded.

“Fucking freak,” Will spat. 

Nico leaned in closer. “You know, It’s not nice to use ‘psychopath’ as an insult.” 

Will scoffed. “Seriously? You’re telling me to be fucking nice? You fucking hypocrite!”

Nico shrugged. “Just saying. It dehumanizes those with psychotic disorders.”

“Why do you even fucking care about those people? You don’t care about anyone! You’re an evil demon!” 

That same serene smile stayed glued on amici’s face. “Of course I care about them. I care about lots of things.” 

“Yeah fucking right.” 

“It’s true. I work with mentally ill souls down here- that’s what I work on at my desk- treatment plans for people who killed themselves. Including people who experience psychosis.” 

Will blinked. “Wait, really?”

Nico nodded. “Yeah. You know how demons teach you things when you call on them? I teach psychology and necromancy. It’s just my thing.”

Will frowned, his temper dying down. “Huh.. that’s, uh, really cool.” Will settled down into the pillows a bit more. “Wait, if you’re a fucking therapist, then why are you such a dick? Is it because of my ‘intoxicating anger’ or some bullshit like that?” 

“Well, kind of. I could get high off of any strong emotion, but anger is easiest to produce. Also you’re fun to tease.” 

“That’s weird. Please stop using my emotions as drugs.” 

Nico laughed. “Then stop feeling emotions. If i’m near a strong emotion, I can’t not be affected by it, just how humans can’t choose to be affected by physical drugs.” 

Will huffed. “Whatever. I’m going to take a nap. My head hurts.” 

Nico nodded, but didn’t get off the bed. He just watched Will fall asleep.

Will woke up a few hours later to find that Nico had fallen asleep next to him, of all things. It was actually kind of cute, though Will would never admit that. Will thought about their weird emotions conversation from before. He wondered if different emotions had different effects, or if it was the same kind of high no matter what. Will was tempted to experiment, but he wasn’t too keen on making himself sad on purpose. He suppose he could find a way to make himself extremely happy, though that might be a bit difficult considering he was in Hell and hated it. He could think about love? Who did he love? He loved his mom more than anyone, so he could think about her. Now that he was thinking about her, though Will felt sad. So immensely, crushingly sad. He would never see his mom again. He would never hug her, or hear her beautiful songs ever again. Will didn’t realize he had started crying until he felt a pair of warm arms wrap around him. Will didn’t pull away. Maybe he wasn’t too fond of a sleeping, emotion-hungry demon cuddling him, but it was the only comfort he could get at the moment, so he decided to take it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that’s that on that! hopefully i’ll update this in a more timely manner next time... but who’s to say ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ either way i do intend on finishing this train wreck and appreciate all of your nice comments!! they keep me motivated, even tho it may not seem like it ^^;


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